Checking understanding - practice

In a previous post I listed 7 practical ways of checking understanding. Now it's the time to put these ideas into practice.

Just to quickly remind you what they were:

1. CCQs.

2. Timelines.

3. Clines.

4. Personalisation.

5. Extension.

6. Translation.

7. Do you understand?

Below is a list of 10 sentences. The underlined phrases represent the target language whose meaning you have already presented (for ideas on presenting and clarifying meaning of target language read this post). However, now you want to check and make sure that the students have actually grasped the meaning.

Use each of the 7 techniques for checking understanding at least one. Justify why you decided to choose this particular technique and not a different one (as described in the previous post, some lend themselves better than others to certain language issues).

I haven't posted my suggestions, because I'd like to hear from you in the comments section. I don't want to influence your choices either. I'm also hoping I can learn a lot myself from your ideas and suggestions. Finally, for each example there's definitely more than one correct answer, so it should be interesting to see how different teachers approach each language point.

If you don't have time to do all 10, choose the examples that interest you most, or that are the most tricky.

Good luck! Looking forward to your suggestions and comments!

1. He’s sleeping under the table. vs. He always sleeps under the table.

2. I have to put up with lazy students.

3. I used to live in Poland.

4. He can take off any accent.

5. I’ve been drinking since midday.

6. I hope we’ll have finished this exercise by 2pm.

7. I’m still not used to the traffic here.

8. That can’t have been him.

9. He swerved to avoid hitting a pedestrian. 
10. Should you have any doubts, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Be fluent in 6 months - first update

From the Author:

Dear All,
The blog has been permanently moved to wordpress. I'm not going to publish anything on the blogspot address any more, and I'll delete the blog within a week or two.
So if you'd still like to follow my posts (I hope you do), please visit the wordpress version and click follow there: teflreflections.wordpress.com You can also find regular updates on the posts on the new blog's FB page by clicking here.
Thanks for reading and commenting on the posts here, and I hope to see you soon on wordpress.
Best,

Marek Kiczkowiak

At the end of January I posted a series of three posts in which I discussed the idea that perhaps we can all learn languages much quicker than most people would have us think. Having reflected on my own learning experience (I speak 6 languages) and having seen and read about various polyglots, I first suggested that there are 5 language learning myths which prevent us from learning faster and achieving fluency by acting as a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are:

1. I haven't got the talent.
2. I'm too old.
3. I've got bad memory.
4. I need a complete immersion program abroad.
5. I haven't got enough time.

All 5 are only bad excuses which most of us tend to make at some point. And they all hamper our learning process. Here read more about why I think they're only bad excuses which stop you from ever achieving your language goals.

In the post that followed, I suggested a 5 step action plan based on positive and successful language learning experience me and other polyglots have had. They're quite simple and definitely not rocket science:

1. Make the language a useful tool.
2. Make mistakes.
3. Exposure is the key.
4. Use it or lose it.
5. A language parent/buddy.

Finally, as I'm a natural sceptic and a disbeliever in everything supernatural (and learning a language in 6 months seems such a feat), I decided to test the advice on myself. My mission has been to become fluent in Portuguese in 6 months. You can read more about it here (i.e. what I mean by fluent, why 6 months and why Portuguese).

And as I'm a language teacher, one of my main goals is to see whether I might discover any techniques or tricks which I can later use with my students to help them learn languages faster.

So it's been two months since my mission statement. I promised I'd give monthly updates, so I'm sorry you've had to wait for twice the time (if actually any of you have been waiting). You might be wondering then how far I got with my Portuguese. Well, here's a video of me speaking it so you can judge for yourself.

It's the first time that I've actually recorded a video, so please bear with me if it doesn't look or sound super slick. It'll be better next time round, I promise :)

 Here are some questions I thought most people might have after watching the video:

1. What did I say?

   Absolute gibberish! ;) I wanted to put subtitles but haven't figured out how yet, so if anyone knows, please let me know. I basically spoke about why I recorded the video, how I've been studying so far and what my sticking points are. I've probably amde hundreds of errors, so if you speak Portuguese, please point them out.

2. How much have I been studying?

   Depends. But in the strict sense of the word I haven't really been studying at all. I haven't got a grammar book and I don't go to language classes. On average I've probably done about 10 to 20mins a day, but there were two weeks when I couldn't study at all.

3. How have I been studying?

   I've been using Memrise (read my post about it here) to learn new words more effectively. So far I've probably learned around 600 hundred words and phrases, which is not bad for 8 weeks. I've done a small bit there on the basic conjugation of a few verbs to get an idea what it's about. I also watch Brazilian TV on the Internet regularly. I chose O Globo, because it seemed to have lots of free videos available. I'm also doing a language exchange, however, I've only managed to have 4 meeting so far, so definitely this is something I need to do more regularly.

Now it's a good time for me to reflect on the process to see what I've done well and what I can do better in the next couple of weeks.

1. It's going to be more difficult than I initially thought.

   Sorry to start with something a bit disheartening (note that I'm still convinced I can reach my goal). If you read my mission statement, you know I speak Spanish. It has been a definite advantage, as there are many words that are similar, but at the same time it's played against me a bit. At times I'm not sure whether I speak Portuguese or just Spanish with a Portuguese accent. A lesson I've learned is to notice the language patterns and use them to generate new words (for example, -ción is always (or almost) -são or -ção in Portuguese). However, overall it might be quite tricky to speak Portuguese without the influence of Spanish on it.

2. Make mistakes and pay attention to the corrections.

   Often students don't even notice that they are being corrected and just go on making the same mistakes over and over again. Of course, worrying too much about being 100% correct can be counter productive too. But I definitely think it's crucial to ask your language buddy to correct some of your errors (perhaps make it focused, e.g. past tense). And you should repeat the correct version a few times so it sticks. When you say the phrase you've had problems with again, be aware of the error you've been making and make a conscious effort to say it correctly.

3. Notice language patterns and imitate them.

   Noticing new language is also very important. If you hear a new phrase, ask what it means, record it if possible (I usually take a little notebook with me to the language exchange). The crucial part here is that you imitate this new language as soon as you get a chance. For example: A: The concert yesterday was class! B: Class? A: Yeah, it was brilliant. A: Oh. I went to a... class concert two weeks ago! It looks very straight forward but a lot of students don't take the opportunity to use the new language. The language kind of goes through one year and exits through the other. So the lesson here is: don't rely on the limited language that you have, but go beyond it. Imitate, imitate and imitate!

4. Out with grammar - in with vocabulary!

   Don't get me wrong. If you want to be 100% correct you might have to study some grammar at some point. However, I don't think it's as important as course books authors would have you believe. Especially at low levels.There are so many grammar points that are utterly useless for successful communication. My advice is to learn whole chunks of language or even whole utterances that carry communicative meaning (e.g. 'What's your name?' 'Can I have the bill, please?'). So far, I've picked up most of the grammar as I went along. Most importantly by repeating the patterns I hear on TV or from my language buddy (see point 2 and 3). For example, if I hear he's speaking about the past, I pay attention to how he conjugates the verbs, so I can quickly give it a shot myself.

5. Enjoy it!

   It's easier said than done, but a positive mindset is the key. Learning should be fun, so make it so. Choose topics that interest you (i.e. if you're crazy about cooking, start with food, cooking and restaurant vocabulary). And if you feel tired or demotivated, flick on a film or a short video. You don't always have to be consciously studying. Watching a fun video on youtube can be as good or even better than toiling over a boring grammar point.

Sticking points and action plan (apart from what I've already been doing):

1. Pronunciation.

   There are certain sounds that are very tricky for me. I've been trying to imitate how people speak. So far I think I'm definitely communicative and intelligible, but far from natural and correct pronunciation.

2. Do more language exchange.

   It's the key. Once a week is OK, but it doesn't give me as much practice as I need if I want to really be fluent in 6 months.

3. Watch videos with more natural/colloquial language.

   I've been watching mostly news and short journalistic reports and I can already understand almost everything. The problem is when people speak quickly on the street in a more unprepared and natural way.

4. Talk to myself.

   That's a tip one of the polyglots, Sid Efromovich gave in this video. He says he always talks to himself in the language he's learning in the shower (so nobody can hear him). It might sound silly or egocentric, but it gives you valuable practice and language rehearsal time, which together with normal language exchange can improve your fluency.

I'll try to post another update in about a month. If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment below. I'd  love to hear about your language learning experiences and whether you've found any of the tips helpful.

Tchau! Até mais!

Do you understand?

In one of my last posts I discussed different techniques which can be used for clarifying meaning of new language. Here I wanted to talk about the next likely stage, that is checking understanding.

I entitled the post "Do you understand?" because it's perhaps the most natural, yet the least welcome, way to find out whether your students have understood the explanation or not. And if you've done CELTA , then you know that it's THE persona non grata of language teaching. But I'll come back to this point later and first start with the more "acceptable" techniques for checking understanding:

1. CCQs: 

   The teacher asks a question or a series of questions which focus on the underlying meaning of the target language, and check if the student has grasped the concept. Keep the responses short so more students can participate, and less demand is put on their production, e.g. I bumped into a friend yesterday. CCQs: a) Did I meet a friend yesterday? (YES) b) Was it planned? (NO) c) Was it an accident? (YES)

2. Timelines:

   Very useful when dealing with expressions where the tense is the problematic bit (although can be culturally dependant), e.g. I've been teaching for 6 years.

3. Clines: 

   Useful for any language concepts which can be ranked, e.g. frequency adverbs, modal verbs for probability, degrees of reality/imagination, although it can be tricky to decide on the exact degree (e.g. I love, I'm crazy about, I'm keen on)
   

4. Personalisation: 

   Standard CCQs can be followed by something more personal, i.e. a question which uses the target language or one which elicits a response with the target language. For example, for the verb to ban you could ask:
   
   • Should the government ban smoking in public places?
   • Is banning soft drugs a good idea to prevent their use?

5. Extension: 

   Students finish a prompt given by the teacher; they’ll only be able to finish if correctly if they understand the concept, e.g. CC although:
   
   • T: Although it was raining...
   • S1: ...we went out.
   • S2: ...we went for a walk.

6. Translation: 

   This is normally frowned upon, especially on initial TEFL courses. However, if you speak students’ L1, it can sometimes be useful to translate in order to dispel any doubts. L1/L2 comparisons can also be a useful tool, raising students’ language awareness of similarities and differences between the two languages. It's also very quick and relatively unambiguous.

7. Do you understand?

   Well, technically this question is persona non grata and all CELTA candidates have a really hard time avoiding it. Probably because it’s the most natural thing in the world for god’s sake! Of course, it is not to say that it should be our only concept checking technique. Having said that, if we know that our students usually speak up when they don’t know something, asking do you understand? can:

• tell us when our previous concept checking has failed and we need to re–clarify
• save us time by avoiding unnecessary CCQs

Do you use any of the techniques more often than others? Are there any you use which I haven't put on the list? Would love to hear from you in the comments section.

In the next post I'll present a few activities in which you'll be able to try out and practise some of the techniques described above, so stay tuned! :)

If you're teaching lexis soon, check out this post on clarifying meaning and this one on recycling vocabulary.

For now, you might find these two sources useful:

• Workman G. 2005. Concept Questions and Timelines. Chadburn Publishing

• Darn S. and White I. 2006. Checking understanding. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/checking-understanding

Some FAQs and some very subjective answers

In this post I've tried to gather some of the most frequent questions I've been asked in the last few weeks on my blog regarding the topics of getting a (better) job, teaching qualifications, job hunts and the best/worst countries to work in. The answers I offer are entirely subjective - as the title suggests - so feel free to disagree and say so in the comments section. I hope, though, that at least some of them will come in handy and help you get a better job or develop professionally.

If this list is not exhaustive enough and there are still some questions nagging you, please let me know in the comments section and I'll do my best to answer them.

1. What are the initial qualifications I should take?

   Whether you like it or not Cambridge CELTA or an equivalent (e.g. Trinity TESOL) is a must if you want to easily find an EFL job abroad. A university degree in TEFL might do as well, but just to be on the safe side I'd definitely recommend doing the CELTA or Trinity TESOL. The reason is that they are internationally recognised, so you don't need to worry about validating your degree. In addition, there's really plenty you can learn from the course, even if you've already completed some university level courses in methodology. For me the CELTA is infinitely more practical than the courses in TEFL I did in university. If this still doesn't convince, you'll see a massive difference in positive job responses after completing the CELTA or an equivalent. There's a myriad of options for taking the courses, and you can read more about them here. I'd personally suggest a face-2-face month long course at a respected institution, such as International House, British Council or Bell.

2. Where should I look for jobs?

   
   Probably the biggest and the most popular search engine is tefl.com There are thousands of job openings around the world, all regularly updated. It's a bit of a pain to create the on-line CV, but once you've got it, applying for jobs is really easy and quick. If you have a specific country or even city in mind, you can search for schools there on this website. Emailing the school directly or calling, even if they're not currently looking for teachers, can often pay off. Both International House and the British Council post job openings on their websites. If you have time during the summer, there are plenty of job openings in the UK. And if you are aiming higher and have a DELTA or an MA in TEFL, look for pre-sessional EAP courses. There are numerous job openings in universities in the UK advertised on jobs.ac.uk and baleap.org.uk.

3. Which school should I apply to?

   Of course, it all depends on your preferences: some people like small institutions, others prefer bigger ones. Some will want to work in a bustling metropolis, whereas others dream of a quiet place in the countryside. No matter what your preferences are, though, consider applying first to respected and well-known language chains, such as IH, BC or Bell. On average, they offer higher salary, better working conditions and excellent professional development programs (not to say that independent language schools don't). You will get to work with qualified and experienced teachers and will be able to learn a lot in the process. Of course, they are all franchises so the quality and standards might vary, but none of them will go below a certain - usually very high - standard. For me the biggest plus, though, of large organisations is that you can easily transfer to another school at the end of your contract, without the hassle of having to write cover letters, send CVs around and search the web.

4. Are some countries better for EFL teachers than others?

   This is a question I've recently been asked a few times, but I find it very hard to answer, because there is no right response to it. It all depends, I guess, on what you're looking for and what kind of person you are. I've worked in 6 countries and they all have their pros and cons. You can read more about my experiences there in this post. There are still many places I'd like to teach in, so if you'd want to know my really subjective and biased opinion on it, then here it is. One of the "musts" on my list is South East Asia. I've just heard so many great things about it that I have to go there at some point. If at some point I feel like another adventure, I'll probably head back to Latin America, preferably to South America. If I needed to make a lot of money quickly, I'd no doubt choose the Middle East. If you're not a native speaker, than stay away from Spain, Italy, France, Korea and Japan, at least at the beginning of your career. Not that you can't get a job there (IH and the BC tend not to discriminate), but being treated as an inferior, constantly scrutinised, looked down upon and compared to a native speaker can be really frustrating and will most likely put you off. Speaking of which, the UK is probably the most NNEST-friendly country I've ever worked in. You might find this post interesting: 10 questions to ask before deciding where to teach English abroad

5.  What post CELTA qualifications and courses are worth taking?

   I'd say by far the best one out there is the Cambridge DELTA. I might be biased because I've done it myself and so I know little about other options, but nobody ever said that this post would be objective. It really does open new doors of opportunity for you. There's a host of positions you can be considered for only if you have the DELTA (or an equivalent) such as Director of Studies, Assistant Director of Studies, Senior Teacher, Teacher Trainer or EAP lecturer. I think it's also a necessary step any teacher who seriously thinks about professional development should take.  If this doesn't convince you, you're bound to see a huge difference in the number of positive replies to your job applications. And an increase to your salary.

6. What other professional development options would you suggest?

   Uff! There's so much stuff out there that I don't even know where to start. A quick look on the BC professional development site will give you a myriad of suggestions. Another good option is the IH teacher training website. Again it all depends on your experience, preferences and time and money constraints. One of the best options for free professional development is blogging. I've only been doing it for a short while, but it can really make a big difference. There are plenty of fantastic blogs around (links to some you can find here on my blog). Watch out for the BC monthly blog awards for innovative teaching ideas.They make a great read and you get a selection of excellent bloggers to choose from for further reading. There are also numerous free webinars going on, on-line conferences and courses that sometimes I wonder when I'll ever have time to attend just a small fraction of them.

7. I am a NNEST and I've come across so many native-only ads that I don't know what to do any more. Will I ever get a job?

   I know how you feel. I've been there myself. But cheer up - you can get a job. I have. And not just once, but several times. Before I cut to the chase, let me briefly explain the problem to some of you who are not aware of it. In a nutshell, a quick look on tefl.com tells you that over 70% of job ads are for native speakers only (regardless of their qualifications or lack thereof). In countries such as Spain, Italy, South Korea and Japan this figure is even higher. You can read why I think this is wrong here. So how as a NNEST do you get your dream job, assuming you're a fully qualified teacher?
   
   Within the EU such job ads and hiring practices are illegal. Contact an anti-discrimination agency - they often offer free legal help and advice. Join a support group on FB: e.g. Budapest NNEST. Write about it and get it published. But above all - be persistent! Believe in yourself! Stand up and speak out against discriminatory ads! Don't let the recruiter turn you down just because you're a NNEST - write back to them, argue, and if need be explain - in a non-threatening way - that their recruitment policy is illegal. Soon I'll published a more detailed post on what can and should be done by NESTs, NNESTs and language institutions to fight against discriminatory recruitment policies within TEFL industry, so stay tuned. Finally, as a qualified NNEST, your best bet might be respected language chains such as the BC, IH and Bell, as well as language schools and universities in the UK, as they all tend to be discrimination free.